2. Jesus Cleanses a Leper

Jesus Cleanses a Leper

Luke 5:12-16

While he was in one of the cities, behold, there was a man full of leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell on his face, and begged him, saying, “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.”

¹³He stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be made clean.” Immediately the leprosy left him.

¹⁴He commanded him to tell no one, “But go your way, and show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing according to what Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.”

¹⁵But the report concerning him spread much more, and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by him of their infirmities. ¹⁶But he withdrew himself into the desert, and prayed.

Mark 1:40-45

A leper came to him, begging him, kneeling down to him, and saying to him, “If you want to, you can make me clean.”

⁴¹Being moved with compassion, he stretched out his hand, and touched him, and said to him, “I want to. Be made clean.”

⁴²When he had said this, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was made clean. ⁴³He strictly warned him, and immediately sent him out, ⁴⁴and said to him, “See you say nothing to anybody, but go show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing the things which Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.”

⁴⁵But he went out, and began to proclaim it much, and to spread about the matter, so that Jesus could no more openly enter into a city, but was outside in desert places: and they came to him from everywhere.

Matthew 8:1-4

When he came down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. ² Behold, a leper came to him and worshipped him, saying, “Lord, if you want to, you can make me clean.”

³ Jesus stretched out his hand, and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be made clean.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

⁴ Jesus said to him, “See that you tell nobody, but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”

Ask:

What do we learn about Jesus?

Jesus wants to heal, and has power to heal.
Jesus was moved with compassion and touched the untouchable.
Jesus followed the law of Moses by telling him to show himself to the priest first. This was the correct procedure.

What do we learn about the people in the story?

This man with leprosy knew Jesus could heal, but would he want to heal him?
Human nature doesn’t want to follow the protocol. Even though it is a good thing to tell everyone about what Jesus had done, this man was to show himself to the priest first as a witness to the power of God.

What lessons can we take away from this story?

(REPLY IN COMMENTS!)

More Insights:

“Leprosy was one of the most dreaded and loathed diseases in the aged world. If a person had leprosy he was to be ostracized from the community. Nobody could touch him. If they touched him, you would be unclean. Jesus touched him.” (Chuck Smith)
“A marvelous thing about the law of God, the book of Leviticus, is that God in the law provided the way by which a person of an incurable disease could be returned into society and into fellowship in the worship of God when he was cured of the incurable disease….
So Jesus said, “Follow the law, go show yourself to the priest.” And, of course, the priest would examine him, and see no white flesh, and see the area where the leprosy was all pink, and new flesh. And so he would set him in the house where he would have to be for seven days, and then he comes back and shows himself to the priest again. He examines him, doesn’t find anything, and then the fellow brings two doves. And the one dove is killed, and the blood is poured with water into a basin. And the second dove is taken and immersed in this bloody water, and set free. And the second dove flying off, the bloody water dripping off his wings, as he takes off, is a symbol of the disease being taken from the man, and his full restoration now into the community.” (Chuck Smith)